Player piano



A. E. GOLDSPINK.

PIA-YER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED ocT.6, 1920- YP t t d J 3 1922 I a @Il e an' v 'I www QH T l i f'll'gj. g 'I M5 KJ; QeE-j' d g TSW? A :IWI ".5

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A. E. GOLDSPINK'.

PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED OCT, 6, 1920.

'Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

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PLAYER PIANO.

-A. E. GoLsPlNK..

APPLICATIQN FILED ocT, 6; 1920.

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.ARCHIBALD EAToN'GoLDsPINx, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

PLAYER Primo.'

' Applikation-'filed october e, 1920. serial No. 415,105.

To all whom t may concer/a: i

Be it known that I, ARCHIBALD EATON GoLDsrifNii, a subject of the Kingof Eng'- land, residing at London, in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in" Player Pianos, of which the follow-ing is a: specification'.

This `invention is for improvements in or` relating to player-pianos of the type wherein the general intensity of playingl is controlled for bass and treble'by avchoker valve in aconduit leading from theexhaustapparatus'to a striker pneumatic trunk, (2) the accenting of particular notes or chords is controlled by a seconda-ry pneumatic' valve in the same or another similar conduit, and (3) the controlv of the motor comprises valves for general control of tempo (called tempo valve), forV voluntary control of tempo (called retard valve), Afor re-winding and forclosing all communication' from the vacuum-effect apparatus to the strikerpneumatic trunk during re-winding.'

Heretofore it has beenv customaryv to mount a vacuum chest .with -the intensity and accentiiig controls below the keyboard in the main channel leading'directly from the vacuum reservoir upwards to the strikerpneumatic trunks. A serious drawback'of this arrangement was that the intensity and accenting controls were relatively difficult of The motor control has heretofore sometimes been mounted below the keyboard and associated with the intensity and accenting controls; alternatively, it has been arranged above the 'keyboard in a vacuum chest which rwas separated from that provided for'the intensity and accenting controls.

An important object of this rinvention is to reduce the number of secondary pneumatic valves required in the accenting control for the bass and treble. k

Another object is to `obviate the abovementioned drawback and to provide a construction of control apparatus such that all of the control valves shall be more readily accessible thanV heretofore.

A further object is ,to provide a unitaryv construction of control box or vacuum chest, on or in Vwhich are accommodated theintensitv and accenting control valves for the bass and treble, and also the motor-control valves.

`Sp'codification of Letters Patent.

Accordingl to4 this invention, therefore,-

Patented there is' provided in a'jplayer-piano of the;k

type described an accenting control comprising (a) one secondary ypneumatic valve arranged to close a conduit' connecting between the vacuum-effect apparatus and the striker-pneumatic trunk, and (Z1) two primary pneumatic valvesleach operatively connected with and controlling the secondary pneumatic` one being controllable from the tracker-bar, and the other usuallyl energized by. openingits pneumaticl port to atmosphere so Vas to close said: secondary pneumatic valve.

Jan. s, 1922.'

Conveniently, an accenting control as'just described above is'` combined with a vacuum chest connected between the vacuum-effect apparatus'and the striker-pneumatic trunk, and onev of the two primary pneumatics has its port'normally closed to atmosphere and is energized by connection to atmosphere through lan accenting conduit from the vtracker-bar, and the second of the two primary'pneumatics is energized by manually opening its' port -to atmosphere so as to' close said secondary 'pneumatic-valve.

According to another feature of the in-` yention, for the purpose of rapidly changing over from automatic to'manual control of the accentuation, two' conduits are controlled at one end by the two aforesaid primary valves, a third conduit is connected at one end with the aforesaid secondary valve, and means, for example a manuallyoperated slide-valve, is provided to place the other end of the-said third conduit into open communication at will with either ofy the other ends of the two first-named conduits. g .Y f

According to a `further feature of the invention a single control boX is disposed above the kkeyboard and comprises a vacuum chest having in oron it the usual governing Adevices and pneumatics which control (a) .the motor, (o) the intensity, (c) the accent- Y tional elevation 2ov ingbeen removed and others being shown" broken away; in uthis figure the treble and baseenids l'of 'a control `bor for accommodat! v* ing the various accenting valves 1n a uni-V tary structure with the motor-control Valves is. shown with its front cover in position, while the middleportion of the boxv is shown with its', front cover removed to exposelthe motor-control valves; Y

Figure 3 is anenlarged longitudinal sectional elevation of Vthe treble end of the control box andthe `valves therein;

4Figure 4 isa partialdetail vertical sectaken on the line V-IV in F .27. and i Figure 5 shows an alternative arrangement ofthe treble intensity controly valve with its bellows mounted outside the control box. Y

V*Like reference letters designate like parts throughout the several views. l

Referring to the drawing, the playerpiano having a keyboard 1, is provided as usual -with vacuum-effect apparatus vcomprising feeders or pumps 2, and vacuum reservoirs. 3 below the keyboard; above the keyboard is the usual striking action, designated generally by thenuineral et, together with a tracker-,bar striker pneumatics 6, and striker-pneumatic trunks 7. y,

A; single control boxidesignated generally. by the numeral A8 and constituting a vacuum chest for accommodating not only bass and treble intensityV and accenting controls, but also the motorco'ntrol, is arranged above the keyboard 1 infront of the striking action 4; n

.This vacuum chest 8, `which exten ds from end to end of the piano and is mounted on main wind trunks 9 in the manner described hereinafter, comprises va base board 10, a top board 11, and a middleboardor partition 12, which divides the chest into an Vupper jchamber 13 and a lowerchamber .14. `The-two ends of the vacuumchest 8 are partially but 'noti completely` divided off from the middle portion thereof by two vertical partition walls 15,. 16` to constitute `treble andl bassy valvefchambers designatedl generally by the numerals 17; 18 respectively. These `two chambers and the valves associated therewith are vsimilar to oneanother, so that av description of the treble' for the two.

Three ports 19, 20,721, are provided in thepartition- 12 in the chamber 17, into the'lower part of which opens `at its end a .main suction channel 22 leading to a vacuum reservoir VThe connection be- Vdescribed hereinafter.

tween the vacuum-effect apparatus and the wind trunks is by way of one or both of. the ports 19 and 20 andthe port 21. This port 21 is `v connected to the striker-pneumatic trunks 7 by a conduit 23 which crosses Ybut does not close the lower part of the valve-chamber 17 at 2e, then continues in the base board 10 and opens downwardly into the main wind-trunk 9, in the manner The port 19 is controlled by anintensity chokerA valve V25 that is mounted in the .p

upper part 13.0f the chamber 17. The portV 20is Vnormally closed by a Ysecondary accenting valve 26 mounted in the lower part 14 of vtheAvalve-chamber 17, and the port 21v Y is controlled by a rewind cut-off valve 27 referred to. more particularly hereinafter.

It will be seen that when these .three valves 25, 26 and 27. are in the Y, position shown in Figure 3, suction vis supplied to the striker-pneumatic trunks 'Z by way of the valve 25 which thus regulates the general intensity of playing, whilst when the valve 26 'is opened in themanner `described here-` 90 inafter,rthe full force of the suction is applied to the wind trunks 7 by way of the lowery part la of the chamber 17 the port 20. and the passageV 24, 23 which thus constitutes a main accenting conduit. The accenting device comprises the above mentioned secondary pneumaticvalve 26 and two primary pneumatic valves 28 and 29 associated therewith. rlhe one primary valve 29, which may be called the accenty 100 ingprimary valve, is arranged to be energized from the tracker'bar Vto open the secondary valve 26 when it is closed, and the other primary valve 28 which maybe called theacce'nting cut-off primary valve, is ar- 105 ranged to be operated manually to close the secondary valve 26 when it is open. third primary pneumatic valve 30, which may be called the re-wind cut-off primary valve, is

arranged to operate the re-wind cut-on valve 27 which is thus a secondary valve and is referred to in greater detail hereinafter'. Two sets of three primary valves 28, 29,

30 are provided respectively at the treble' vand Abass ends of the middle portion of the ,115 lvacuum chest, and the ports controlled by thesel valves, hereinafter refer-red to -as the outlet ports, are situated in a part of the partition 1.2.which constitutes the bottom Vof a box-like chamber 31 open to the atmos- 12.0-

phere.,V This chamber 31 is formed at each end vof the valve chest by the wall 15 or 16 and a wall 32 of the s ame'size and parallel therewith in the chamber 13. The top of the Vchamber 31 is provided with holes, whereof 125V one is shown at'79,lwhich enable a screwdriver to be inserted-for'unscrewing the upper-seating plate ofthe valve 29. These holes may be coveredwith metal gauze 8O for keeping dust out of the air-chamber 31. 13 0 Thef pneumatic port 33 ofeach valve 29 is connected by an accenting conduit 34 with the tracker-bar 5, and the pneumatic port 35 of each primary valve 28 is connected by a conduit 36 with a control lever 37, whereof one is provided for the bass androne for the treble. The two outlet ports 38 and 39, respectively, of. theprimary valves 29 and 28 arerespectlvely connectedby conduits. 40 and 41 with'two ports and 43 in the body 44 of a slide-valve, whereof the valve proper 46 has a port 47 connected by a flexible conduit 48 to the pneumatic port 49 of its allotted secondary accenting valve 27. Thetwo slide-valves 46, .one at the bass and the other at the treble, are connected together by a tie-rod 50 having an operating handle 51, so that they can be operated together in unison toV bring the bass and treble tracker-bar accenting controls into and out of operation simultaneously.

.Assuming that it is desired to automatically accentuate the notes or chords that are being played, the handle 51 will be Vmoved to place the slide-valves 46 in the position shown in Figure 2,-in which the outlet ports 38 are in open connection with the pneumatic ports 49. As soon as hole in the paper registers with the accenting hole in the tracker-bar connected to one of the -accenting conduits 34, the allotted primary valve 29 will be energized, the port 38 is thereby closed to atmosphere in the box 31 and opened topsuction in the chamber 14, so that suction is supplied by way of the conduit 40 and theslide-valve 46 to the pneumatic port 49 of the accenting valve 26, whereby the port 20 is opened, so that the full force of the suction is admitted to the wind trunks 9 and 7. Vhen atmosphere is cut off by the music sheet from the port 33, the valve 26 is cle-energized and is closed owing to the primary valve 29 closing its outlet port 38 to suction and opening it to atmosphere. When it is desired to cutot the accentuation Vfrom the tracker bar, the handle 51 is operated to shift the slide-valves 46 so that the ports 47 register with the'ports 43, whereupon the secondary accenting valves 26 are held open by suction supplied by way of the outlet ports 39 of the primary cut-olf valves 28. 1n this position o-the accenting device, atmosphere can be admitted manually at will to'either of the pneu- 'matic ports 35 of these primariesby the control levers 37.. Vhen an accenting cutoff primary valve 28 is thusv energized its outletk port 39 is opened to atmosphere inthe chamber 31, whereupon atmosphere is supplied by way of one of the ducts 41, the slide-valve 46 and the conduit 48 to the pneumatic port 49 of the allotted secondary accenting valve 26 to close the same, thereby shutting off the main force ofthe suction from the wind trunks 9 and 7.

4ing valve 55.

and reduction of cost of manufacture.l

Further, the liability of repairs being required is reducedy to a minimum.

As mentioned above, the motor control is also accommodated in the described controlbox or vacuum chest. -This control may comprise, as usual, an anti-fluctuation or choker valve, a tempo slide-valve, a retard valve and a re-winding valve. 1n the present construction, a choker valve .52 is pro-` vided near the bass end of the middle portion of the vacuum chest and is arranged to control a port 53 in the partition 12 connecting the upper and lower parts 13, 14 of the chest. A tempo slide-valve54 is provided in the upper part of the chest near the middle thereof, and near the same in the lower part of the chest is a re-winding valve 55 that controls a port56 in the partition 12. A retard valve 57 is arranged adjacent the wall 32 at the treble end of the valve chest and controls a port 58 that leads to the motor.

Vhen re-winding is to occur, the re-winding valve 55 is opened to admit lthe full force of the suction by way oi the port 58 to the motor, and at the same time the rewinding cut-0H valves 27 (Figure 3) are closed to cut oil? the suction from the wind trunks. For this purpose the re-winding control mechanism comprises a rocking valve'designated generally by the numeral 59. Two conduits 60 and 61 opening respectively at one end into the pneumatic ports 62 of the bass and treble primary valves 30 open at their other ends into two ports 63 and 64 respectively, in the body portion 65 of the valve 59. A conduit 66 opens at one end into the pneumatic port 67 of the rewinding valve 55 and at its other end into a port 68 situated between the two ports 63 and '64. The rocking member 69 of the valve 59 .when operated by its handle 70 admits atmosphere to the three conduits 60, 61 and 66, simultaneously, and thereby energizes the two primary valves'30 and the re-wind- The outlet port 71 of each primary valve 30 is connected by a conduit 7 2 with the pneumatic port 7 3 of its allottedV 8l Vhas in it an Vsingle unitary structure.

- Valve-chamber i the bass, and treble and also thefmotor control valves are .accommodated in the de; `scribed control box andl term. therewith ,a

control box is normally closed by a Yfront Wall divided into three parts screwed into position, WhereoiL parts ot two are shown at 74 in Figures l and 2. lhen this cover is removed the various valves arejsituated vin, such aposition that they'can be readily in# spected, and repaired ii necessary, by a perof acting on the outsidev ot the pneumaticV asin the arrangement shown in .Figure 3,

acts byway of a port/.77 on the inside ot. tliesame, and the pneumatic is connected to the closure member oit the vali/*e by Aa rod 78. The control-box is secured in position by means ot two wooden blocks Si (Figure l) `fixed one at each end to its bottom and held against the rear faces ot the main Wind trunksl 9 by bolts 82. Each ot these blocks Ii.shaped duct, whereof the upper end v'registers with the adjacent end ot the allotted accenting conduit 23, and the loiyerend registers with the] adjacent end of the passage in the trunk 9. rllhis 'arrange` kmentenadoles the control boi: to be readily placed in and removed from its normal4 position.y l i t will be appreciated that yariousmodii'ications may beV made in the-above-described apparatus Without departing from the scope of the krinvention as deiined in the claims.

What lclaim as my inventionl and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. ln an automatic; key instrument, the combination with a'tiacker, main (Wind chest, andmeans for exhausting air from the latter, yot a single control boi; which is located above the keyboard and comprises control Wind chest, means connecting the control Wind chest with the main Wind chest,

a striker pneumatic trunk connected by Way t the Vcontrol boii with vthe main Wind chest, motor control means, intensity control means and rewinding control means pro. vided in said control. box, and an accent-4 ing control comprising primaryV and secondary pneumatic valves mounted A in said" control boi: and' arranged to control the connection of said trunk with the main Wind chest. 'I

2.. ln an automatickey instrument, the combination with a tracker, ya maintvind The front oi the chest and means for exhausting air from the latter of a sindle control boit which 4is D b i locatedV above the `keyboard. and comprises a control Wind chest, means connecting Ithe- '70 chest, a. striker pneumatic trunkconnectedy control Windv chest. with the main Wind by Way otthe' control loon with the main Wind chest, motor Vcontrol means, accentiiig ,y

control means andrewinding control means` provided in said control box, and an in-` tensity.A control comprising a seconda-ry pneumatic valve mounted in said control .box and arranged to control the connection oiQV said trunk with the mainA Windk chest, and two primary pneumatic valves*- mounted in said control bei; and arranged., each to control said secondarypneumaticY value iiidepeiidently and alternatively ofi trie other. l,

3. ln lan automatic key instrumentthe combination with a tracker, a main Wind chest and Ameans Vfor exhausting air from the latter, Aof a single control boit Whichfisv'located` above the keyboard and comprises a control-wind chest, means connecting the control VWind chest with the main i Wind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk connected.,v

by Way of the control boit with the main.

Wind chest, motor` control means,inteiisity controlmeans and rewinding control means provided inY said control box, and anacceiit- Vcontrol Comprising a secondary pneuv matic Valve mounted in saidgcontrol boitA and arranged to control the connection of said trunkwith the inain VWind chest, and

tiro primary Vpneumatic Valves mounted in saidV control box and arrangedeach to control said secondary pneumatic. valve independentl and alternatively ot' the other; one of said primary pneumatic valves being controllable from the tracker, andi'means- Vmanually energizing the pneumaticof Vfor the otherso as to Vclose said secondary pneumatic Vvali/'e to act as an intensity control.

a. ,lnl an automatic key instrument, the

combination with tracker, aeginain Wind chest Y' and means for exhausting air fromV latter, or a single control boX which is l located above control Wind chest, means connecting the control Wind chest With the main Wind ehest,"a striker pneumatic trunk connected the Vkeyboard and comprises a` iis by Way of the control box with the main Wind chest, motor control means, intensity control means and rewinding control means provided in said control boli, and an accenting control comprising` a secondary pneumatic Valve mounted in said control boX and arranged to'control the connection of said vtrunk with the main Wind chest, a conduitv .connected to the pneumatic of said second* Vary Valve, two primary Vpneumatic valves mounted in said control box, two conduits` controlled by said primary Valves, ,means .for connecting the'tWo latter: conduits alternatively with the irst conduit, means for connecting the pneumatic ot one olisaid primary valves with the tracker, and means for manually energizing the pneumatic of the other primary valve.

f3. In an automatic key instrument, the combination withr a-tracker, a main `wind chest, and means for exhausting air from the' lat-ter, of a single control bof; which located above the keyboard and comprises a control wind chest, means connecting the control. wind chest with the main wind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk connected by way ofthe. control box with the main wind chest, motor control means, intensity control means and rewinding control means provided in said control box, and an accenting Vcont-rol comprising a secondary pneumatic valve mounted in said control box and arranged to control the connection of said trunk with the main wind chest, a conduit connected to the pneumatic of said secondary valve, two primary pneumatic valves mounted in said control box, two conduits controlled by said primary valves, a manually operable slide valve arranged to connect the two latter conduits alternatively with the first conduit, means connecting the pneumatic of one of said primary valves with the tracker, and means for manually energizing the pneumatic of the other primary valve.

6. In an automatic key instrument, the combination with a tracker, a main wind chest and means for exhausting air from the latter, of a single control box which is located above the keyboard and comprises a control wind chest, means connecting the control wind chest with the main wind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk connected by way of the control box with the main wind chest, motor control means, intensity control means and rewinding control means provided in said control box, and an accenting control comprising a secondary pneumatic valve mounted in said control box and arranged to control the connection of said trunk with the main wind chest, and two primary pneumatic valves mounted in said control box and arranged each to control said secondary pneumatic valve independently and alternatively ot the other, one of said primary pneumatic valves being controllableV from the tracker, and means or'manually energizing the pneumatic of the other so as to close said secondary pneumatic valve to act as an intensity control, the valve port of the primary valve controlled from the tracker normally opening to atmosphere and when its pneumatic is energized opening to wind so as to open said secondary valve, and the valve port of the second primary valve normally opening to wind, and, when' its pneu matic is energized, opening to atmosphere so as to close said secondary valve.

7. In an automatic key instrument, the combination with a tracker, a main wind chest,and means for exhausting air from the latter, of a single control box which is located above the keyboard and comprises a Y control wind chest and a valve chamber that opens into the latter and has three ports,

-mounted in said control box and arranged each to control said secondary `valve independently and alternatively of the other.

8. In an automatic key instrument, the combination with a tracker, a main wind chest, and means for exhausting air from the later, of a single control box which is located above the keyboard, has an inlet in its bottom and comprises a control wind chest, means connecting the control wind chest with the main wind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk, a block mounted on the bottom of the control box and detachably secured to said wind trunk, which block has a passage that opens at one end into said inlet and at its other end into the wind trunk, motor control means, intensity control means and rewinding control means provided in said control box, and an accenting control comprising primary and secondary pneumatic valves mounted in said control box and arranged to control the cplnnection of said trunk with the main wind c est.

9. In an automatic key instrument, the combination with a tracker, a main wind chest, and means for exhausting air from the latter, of a single control box which is located above the` keyboard and comprises a control wind chest and a valve chamber that opens into the latter and has three ports, means connecting the main wind chest with two of said ports, an adjustable valve arranged to control one of these ports, a bellows situated in said valvey chamber and connected with said valve, said bellows opening to atmosphere through a port in the wall of the valve chamber, a striker pneumatic trunk, means connecting the latter with the third of said ports, a rewind cut-oil valve arranged to close said third port, and an accenting control comprising a secondary pneumatic valve arranged to control the other of said two ports, and two primary pneumatic valves mounted in said control ports and arranged each to control said secondary valve independently and alternatively of the other.

l0. The combination with a tracker, a main Wind chest, and means for exhausting air from the latter, of a Vacuum chest comprising an accentingfconduit, means connecting' one end of said conduit With' the main Wind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk connected with the other end of said conduit, a secondary pneumatic accenting valve arranged-to control said accenting conduit, and two primary pneumatic Vvalves situated in said vacuum chest and arranged each to control said secondary valve independently and alternatively of the other, one of which Vprimary pneumatics is controllable from the tracker, and the other is controllablel manually.

11. The combination with a tracker, a

main Wind chest, and means for exhausting air from the latter, of a vacuum chest com- 5 prising an accenting conduit, means connecting` one end of said conduit with the niainwind chest, a striker pneumatic trunk connected With the other end of said conduit, a lsecondary pneumatic accenting valve Y, 

